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Border Princes
Unlike the Empire, Bretonnia, or even the Wasteland, the area known as the Border Princes does not form a nation or state, but is rather a loose confederacy of various petty Princedoms. Most Old Worlders think of and refer to the Border Princes in much the same way as they would the Badlands - an amorphous and largely lawless area, cut off from civilisation by the Black-Vaults-Apuccini mountain chain. The fight that certain eastern Princes are waging against the Goblin hordes who pour across the Blood River and out from Mad Dog Pass goes virtually unnoticed. Geography The Vaults, the high mountains where the Black, Grey, and Apuccini Mountain ranges all meet, is the focus of this fragmented land. Each time the Incursions of Chaos have overrun the area, the surviving Princes and their armies have gathered in the shadows of the mountain to draw strength and launch their counter-attack. Each time they have succeeded, despite the complete lack of assistance from their neighbors. The Vaults' verdant hanging valleys provide excellent pasture for cattle and nutritious, if modest, harvests. The rugged terrain is also ideal guerilla country and all kinds of brigands and rogue adventurers have bases here. Which is not to say that the Princes are not brigands and rogue adventurers themselves. Lying south of the Black Mountains and between the Apuccinis and the Black Gulf, the region known as the Border Princes is a sparsely populated, rather bleak area with large tracts of untamed wilderness which are frequently roamed by goblinoids from the Badlands. Politics People settle in these two areas for a variety of reasons. Many are exiled nobles from the civilised lands to the north and west, others are adventurers; tired of authority; there are religious recluses; and there are madmen. Law and central authority are both lacking, with towns and villages alike fiercely jealous of their independence, and this attracts those who cannot live in more rigid societies. The People Some areas were first settled during Humanity's ealiest northward migration (some 3,000 years ago), while other parts have been developed only recently. The region's name originated from just over 1,500 years ago, when a number of adventurers (including many who were disenchanted with the fast-disintegrating Empire) struck out with many of their followers to colonise the mountains and drive out the Goblins. The leaders dubbed themselves Princes, although most had been stripped of all titles and many had never been more than simple adventures. People from all countries could be found fighting side-by-side in those days and the more successful soon carved out a number of petty princedoms for themselves, exercising what authority each could by sheer force of arms. The situation remains pretty much the same up to the present. Language People in the Border Princes tend to speak an old form of the Reikspiel dialect of Old Worlder, but there will always be a number of individuals familiar with other dialects, as well as the occasional native speaker of foreign tongues such as those of Araby and Cathay. Cities There are no settlements of city size either in the Vaults or the Border Princes and all towns are much futher apart than elsewhere in the Old World (substitute an interval of 60 miles in the rules provided in the section on Settlement Patters in the Old World). Category:Background Category:World Guide